Lorry robbery gang jailed for 50 years following death of trucker in Black Country

EIGHT Midland men and a teenager have been jailed for almost 50 years after a Polish trucker died during a £250,000 lorry jacking.

Members of the gang: From left, Anthony Kennedy, Daniel Knight, Glen Garner, Neino Scarrett, Phillip Harthill and Robert Warren

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EIGHT Midland men and a teenager have been jailed for almost 50 years after a Polish trucker died during a £250,000 lorry jacking.

The body of 57-year-old Bogdan Bartczak, who had a severe heart condition, was later “callously” dumped by the side of a road in the Black Country like “road kill.”

Judge Michael Cullum, sentencing the gang, said: “No defendant is before me for being criminally liable for that death.

‘‘But a severely aggravating feature of this robbery is that the man who was robbed spent his last moments a victim.

‘‘He did not deserve to die afraid and in distress. He did not deserve to have his body disposed of as if a worthless piece of road kill. That reflects the callousness of the defendants.”

Birmingham Crown Court heard that Mr Bartczak had driven from Poland with a lorry load of TVs. He parked up in Green Street, Oldbury, where he had stayed the night in his cab. The following day he was forced to chase off some of the gang, but they returned and overcame him.

The truck was driven to a storage facility and its cargo of 227 TVs unloaded and disposed of.

The following morning a dog walker discovered the body of Mr Bartczak near a canal bridge in Vale Road, Dudley.

A post-mortem examination failed to determine the cause of Mr Bartczak’s death. it is suspected that he suffered a heart attack.

Phillip Harthill, aged 32, of Turner Street, WestBromwich, who admitted robbery and burglary, and Anthony Kennedy, aged 29, of Bourne Avenue, Tipton, who admitted robbery and handling stolen goods, were both jailed for eight years.

Daniel Knight, aged 28, of Wednesbury Oak Road, Tipton, and Neino Scarrett, aged 23, of New Road, Dudley, who had pleaded guilty to robbery and handling stolen goods, were sentenced to seven years.

Martin Payne, aged 31, of Bleak House Road, Oldbury, who had admitted two charges of burglary, was jailed for four years and three months and Glen Garner, aged 25, of Beresford Crescent, West Bromwich, who had admitted robbery and burglary, was sentenced to six and a half years.

Robert Warren, aged 34, of Oak Leasow, Quinton, was given a three-year sentence after pleading guilty to attempted theft and assisting an offender, while Craig Street, aged 49, of Bridges Crescent, Cannock, who had admitted two charges of handling goods, was sentenced to 16 months.

A 17-year-old, who had admitted robbery and handling stolen goods, was sentenced to two years’ detention.